Organized in two stages, this day is an opportunity to attract more women to this predominantly male environment and to educate students - mainly men - on the issues that affect women in this sector. Indeed, only 1% of them work in the field, hence the need to give them all the keys to finding a place in the world of construction as soon as they are trained.
Women job seekers and women in professional retraining are invited to an open morning at the Paris campus of the École Gustave, on March 8 from 9 a.m. Punctuated by testimonials, it will be followed by an afternoon of awareness led by trainers with the 70 students in bootcamp.
Testimonials and demonstrations: feedback from women in the construction industry
During the morning, a breakfast is organized to allow job seekers to discover the training offered by the school. Visitors will also be able to draw inspiration from the careers of Olga Alexandre and Ariane Weladji (plumber-heating engineers) and other women working in the field - from manual field jobs to business leaders - thanks to their testimonies and a demonstration. in a plumber-heating engineer's workshop. A real moment of sharing and exchange, during which job seekers will be able to find answers to their questions.
According to Marie Blaise, founder of the school: “We are organizing this awareness day to prove to women wishing to evolve in the construction industry that they have all the capacities to do so, including in field positions. Having women who have succeeded in this environment testify is one way to achieve this. Today, the feminization of the environment is underway, but there is still a lot of awareness-raising work to be done to achieve parity.”
Raising awareness among students
The afternoon will be dedicated to raising awareness among the 70 bootcamp students in the plumber-heating engineers and electricians promotions - mostly men - on the status of women in the building industry. On the program: a workshop led by trainers from the school which will focus on how École Gustave can be more inclusive and on the commitments it can put in place to feminize the environment. The goal? That the students, as well as the teaching team, keep these commitments in order to set an example for the whole community and encourage its feminization. At the end of the day, the students will produce a piece of plumbing related to the status of women in the building industry, under the supervision of female plumber trainers.
According to Olga Alexandre, trainer at the school: “We wanted to make all the students aware of the various themes concerning women in construction. It is important that students become aware of the issues that affect women as they are the ones who create the world of construction of tomorrow. Thanks to this awareness, they will be able to change mentalities in this sector. With this day, we want to break down prejudices among everyone and show that women are as capable of doing manual trades as men.”